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Volume 06: Prophecy Fulfilled
Prophecy Fulfilled is the sixth volume of the Silver Diamond series. Publisher's Synopsis Appearing as a projection through a flower field of light, the Ayame Prince assembles his people for a new prophecy. He foretells of a world full of disasters, but that those who kneel down to him will escape this terrible future. Of course, Rakan, Chigusa, and the rest of their comrades refuse to kneel... at which point the earth folds in on itself and those who did not kneel fall into the underworld! Enraged, Rakan causes a whole field of light flower to blossom, resulting in a lighting effect in the sky. People think it is a fulfillment of the Prince's prophecy; however, both Rakan and the Prince understand this as the declaration of war! Plot Chapter 16: Prophecy Fulfilled The chapter begins in the capital, a crowd of people surrounding Kinrei and the Prince. Kinrei has called everyone together to announce a new prophecy from the Prince. Back in the field of light flowers, Rakan’s group is looking up in shock at Kazuhi, reeling that his name is Tohno Kazuhi. The bandit leader asks who Tohji’s mother was; Tohji says that her name was Migina, and Kazuhi confirms that that was his mother’s name as well. While Miya and Kazuhi argue about the similarity of the brothers’ “feather dusters” and Rakan encourages Tohji to go up and meet his brother, a shimmering veil of shining sand appears, displaying an illusion of Kinrei and the Prince. It’s through this method that the Prince spreads his words to the people not living in the Capital, and how people living so far away, like the former Frontier Guard, recognize Rakan’s face as the Prince’s. The Prince’s reason for gathering the citizens of the Amato Empire is to declare his new prophecy: “The god of death has finally descended upon this land.” He foretells the coming destruction of the land and the monsters that will shortly be appearing. But instead of fearing for their lives, Kinrei says, those who love and worship the Prince will be protected from these calamities. At the end of his speech, Kinrei pauses to add in his own declaration. He tells the assembled people, and those watching through sand screens, that he knows that among them are people particularly far away, and that if they kneel down and grovel at the feet of the Prince, they too will be saved. Thinking that he’s talking to them, Rakan and the guards talk among themselves, wondering why they would ever kneel in front of an illusion. Suddenly, Chigusa tells the guards to descend into the valley that he, Rakan, Narushige, and Tohji are in. The ground begins to split suddenly, however, and only Chigusa’s quick thinking of having Rakan grow a tree for the four to grab on too are they prevented from falling below. Kazuhi and the rest of the guards, however, aren’t so fortunate, and they fall into the earth below. Rakan, furious about what just happened and the Prince’s suggestion that he would have helped them if they had declared their loyalty, springs into action. He has Chigusa immediately begin looking for his guards, Narushige write down the Prince’s prophecy that was just given, and Tohji hand him a light flower. In the Capital, the assembled people chatter about the sudden earthquake, believing it to be a validation of the Prince’s claims of protection. Suddenly, out in the distance, a shining point of light appears. It is Rakan, who has grown an enormous field of light flowers. The Capital people speculate that this light is related to the Prince’s prophecy of a god shining on the sand, while the Prince and Kinrei recognize it as Rakan’s declaration of war on them. Chapter 17: Open the Door The Prince and Kinrei discuss Rakan’s declaration of war as the Prince has his formal clothing removed; Kinrei inquires as to the source of the light emanating from Rakan’s direction. The Prince theorizes that a town had been burning in the distance, but doesn’t want to go to the effort to use his eyes to verify. Kinrei pushes the topic, trying to figure out if Rakan was the god shining in the sand, as referred to in the Prince’s prophecy and speculated by the Capital people. The Prince denies his prophecy having to do with Rakan, instead insisting that Rakan’s declaration was a good thing. The people of the capital saw the light and, because of it, were filled with hope; when they died, they would die happy. The Prince continues, saying that things are proceeding along fine. Parts of his prophecy are being fulfilled already, while others would soon arrive. The useless waste would disappear, he says, leaving only him, Kinrei, and the world. After his short speech, the Prince has Kinrei carry him to bed and falls asleep. As Kinrei walks away, he thinks about how the Prince is becoming more and more selfish; he can’t do anything about it, though, as he still needs the Prince’s power of prophecy, not being strong enough himself yet. He cuts his chest and makes a veil of the blood that drips out, calling for Hakubi and Zakuro. Someone answers, and Kinrei hands them the veil, ordering them to eliminate Rakan and his group. The person obeys, disappearing. The scene switches to Rakan, Chigusa, Tohji, and Narushige, who are looking into the crevice that Kazuhi and the Guard have fallen into. Rakan drops some Light flowers into the darkness below, hoping Kazuhi and the others will find them. Tohji is kneeling at the edge of the crevice, looking below; he asks Narushige if he should be happy, since he had just found his brother. Instead, he says, he’s unhappy and conflicted, seeing how his brother’s group had just fallen into the earth. Narushige consoles him, telling him that everything would be alright. Narushige hands Rakan his notebook, where he had written the Prince’s prophecy from earlier. While flipping the pages, Rakan sees two that are covered with the names of the Numbered Children, and he remembers their time together, beginning to cry silently. Chigusa suddenly wipes away his tears, telling Rakan he’s found Kazuhi and the others. All he needs is for Kazuhi to look toward him so that the two will be “able to connect”. Down below, Kazuhi tries to take stock of his surroundings, attempting to locate his comrades. He remembers Chigusa’s words to try opening his scar as the group chatters, confused, lost, and unwilling to move from their positions, afraid they’ll wander farther away and fall even further down. Kazuhi calms them, reminding them that they weren’t dead yet, untying his bandana all the while. He begins to become angry, questioning the right of Kinrei and the Prince to treat him and his comrades like trash. He pulls out his knife and cuts across the scar on his forehead, then opens his third eye. He can see in the darkness and examines his surroundings, all the while thinking of Senroh’s words: “That scar will become your strength, three-eyed Kazuhi”. Up above, Chigusa has just finished explaining Kazuhi’s special eye to his three friends. He explains that the Tohno family seemed to have a lot of issues with eyes; Tohji agrees with him, noting that he was born blind. In the crevice, Kazuhi finishes locating the last of his group and goes over to fetch them. Along the way, some of Rakan’s light flowers float down, and Kazuhi knows the sanome Prince is safe. While looking up, Kazuhi and Chigusa finally connect eyes, and Chigusa says he’ll be able to speak to Kazuhi now, since they have the same type of eyes. Rakan is suitably impressed, wondering if their communication is similar to that over a string phone, while down below Kazuhi’s extra eye is wowed over by members of the Guard. He asks them why they aren’t freaked out, and they reply that “Kazuhi is Kazuhi”. Chigusa starts to speak into Kazuhi’s mind, startling him, and they begin having a conversation. The other Numbered Children find out that Senroh can talk directly into Kazuhi’s mind, but pity him for it, noting that Kazuhi doesn’t seem to be enjoying the experience. Back up top, Rakan gets confirmation that everyone below is alive and well; he gives Tohji a hug, happy that Tohji’s big brother is all right. Chigusa promptly joins the hug, startling Tohji. During the lull, Kazuhi’s normal eyes have finally started to adjust to the dark. He sees massive stone stairs in the distance; he tells Chigusa that he thinks he can use them to climb back up to the surface. The scene cuts back to Kinrei, who stands atop one set of stone stairs in the underground. He surveys the area, lantern in hand, confident that that would be the land that he would obtain with his “own two hands”. It would be a place free of people, one that surpassed humanity, a place where he controlled life. He would throw the world away and find the Seed of Eternal Life. He, not the Prince or Rakan, would be the living god. Chapter 18: Dividing Branches Chigusa relates Kazuhi’s discovery of the stone stairs to Rakan and the rest, agreeing that if they follow them, Kazuhi and the others should be able to reach the surface again. He also comments on how natural-looking they look, and how he’s seen that kind of rock before. Rakan pulls out the two copies of the map- one in the black book, the other copied into Rakan’s notebook. Chigusa has Rakan give the copy of the map to Tohji, who then shoots it down to Kazuhi and the others so that they’ll have their own copy. Tohji complains that he can’t see into the darkness, however, but Chigusa has a solution: he puts his hand over Tohji’s eyes, saying that because of Tohji’s family’s history ofspecial eyes, if he opens his mind he should be able to borrow Chigusa’s eyes and see into the darkness below. Kazuhi waves away some Guard members so they won’t accidentally get hit by the arrow, and then retrieves the map once it has fallen. He tells Chigusa to begin moving forward; he would take responsibility of getting the Guard to the surface, and that they would do their best to catch up. Chigusa relates this to Rakan, adding that wherever Rakan traveled there were sure to be flowers in bloom, making it easier for Kazuhi to find them. Narushige is slightly disturbed at the possible pass Chigusa is making towards Rakan, but doesn’t know how to handle it. Tohji remains locked in Chigusa’s hand, also uncomfortable. Kazuhi advise Tohji to stick close to Rakan and protect him; some of the members of the Guard are shocked to hear that Kazuhi has a brother at this. Kazuhi calls it destiny that they met, and says that it’s fate that ties him and the Guard to Rakan and that because of that, they’ll be able to meet again. Rakan has Chigusa tell Kazuhi that he believes more of the Prince’s prophecy will come true: that in the end, the sun will reappear. He adds that in his world, there are deserts that are scorched by the blazing sun; if that happened to this world, it would really be the end of the world. But if he were able to bring back the green before that happened, they could save the world. Rakan wishes the Guard luck, saying that they’ll meet again and that he looks forward to having them as his personal guard. The Numbered Children are cheered by this, and Chigusa smiles, recognizing the hope that Rakan is giving the Guard. Rakan has his three friends join his hand in a group, wanting them to shake hands in their decision to stop the Ayame Prince. Chigusa once again reflects on his former mission- that to eliminate the Ayame- and realizes that he has a new goal in life. The four shake (plus Koh) and Chigusa gives Rakan a hug. Kazuhi gives the Guard a blow-by-blow account as Narushige removes Chigusa and instead pushes Tohji into his arms; they all decide that Chigusa is a pervert. Up top, Tohji complains about Chigusa giving hugs to anyone within reach, but is rebuffed by Rakan and Narushige, who tell him not to worry about it. Narushige reminds him that he has a brother now, and Tohji relents, happy. This line of conversation, however, reminds Narushige of his own sister. Far off in the distance, his sister, Sae, has taken cover from the shaking ground, thinking over the Prince’s prophecy and wondering what would happen to the world. She wonders what she should do, now that the mother she loves has thrown her out of the house. Sae decides to find the place Narushige had lived when he was abandoned; she finds it. It is a well-furnished room, but there doesn’t appear to be anyone living there. While poking around, Sae pushes back a hanging cloth to see a giant white snake looking at her. The snake asks her if she’s the next sacrificial child. Back with Rakan, the group decides to start walking. They decide to try to find a storehouse nearby that was owned by the Sasaoka clan. Rakan is extremely optimistic about the trip, and gathers some light flowers to bring with them. He suggests that they play a game while on the road, and Chigusa looks back at the area they have just left, noting that a lighted path has already begun to spread behind Rakan. In some other area, a man appears out of nowhere with Kinrei’s blood cloak. Volume Extras A War of Words To pass the time, Rakan, Tohji, Narushige, and Chigusa play shiritori. Reviews Editions Sd6 english.jpg|Silver Diamond 6, English Edition sd6 french.jpg|Silver Diamond 6, French Edition sd6 german.jpg|Silver Diamond 6, German Edition sd6.jpg|Silver Diamond 6, Japanese Edition Category:Volumes 1-9 Category:Volumes